Tampa Bay and Buffalo combine for more than 100 penalty minutes in three separate brawls

News

Tampa Bay and Buffalo combine for more than 100 penalty minutes in three separate brawls

Emotions were running a little high near the end of Tampa Bay’s 5-0 drubbing of Buffalo and it resulted in not one, not two, but three line skirmishes. Between the two teams, the score sheet was packed with more than 100 penalty minutes.

In Thursday night’s contest between the high-powered Tampa Bay Lightning and the lowly Buffalo Sabres, there were three beat downs: one on the scoreboard and two on the ice. The Lightning walked out with 5-0 win over their Atlantic Division opponents, but they didn’t leave the ice without throwing a few fists in the process. The Sabres, who have been on a run of late, and the Lightning mixed it up on three separate occasions, with the two teams combining for 110 penalty minutes. Things weren’t actually getting too crazy, but less than eight minutes into the third period the first brawl started:

The culprit in this one was definitelySteven Stamkos. After swinging his stick at defensemanMike Weber, the two got into a bit of a shoving match that resulted in Tampa’sBrett Connolly and Buffalo’sTyson Strachan dropping the gloves. Little more than a minute later, when moods had maybe just begun to settle, Lightning defensemanVictor Hedman caught the Sabres’Zemgus Girgensons with a hit along the boards. With the referee set to give Hedman a penalty for interference, tempers flared once again:

Who knew Girgensons – the league’s leading All-Star vote getter – could also throw a few punches? Not a bad fight from the Latvian center. Less than two and a half minutes later, Buffalo’sPatrick Kaleta, always the antagonist, sparked another bout, this one with Tampa’sBrian Boyle:

Resulting from the mix-up, Kaleta, Boyle, Tampa’s Brenden Morrow, and Buffalo’s Cody McCormick were all sent to take an early shower, receiving 10-minute misconducts. You can check out the complete penalty summary below: If that isn't enough, take a listen to Brian Boyle, who was mic'd up during last night's game: